Assuming these two teams both continue their same paths, and either barely make the playoffs or barely miss, its apparent that to me that these 2 teams probably are teams that need to be very active in the summer of 2007, or possibly even at this years trade deadline. With that in mind, let me throw out an idea to discuss:

Pacers trade Jermaine O'Neal, David Harrison, and the rights to Efram Lorbek to Boston

Now for Boston, this gives them 2 of the arguably top 10 players in the East, and doesnt completely leave them barren of players to go along with them. They become a legitimate contender in the Atlantic, and have their best players locked up long term.

For Indiana, this has to be viewed as the first step of a major rebuild, but one that doesnt necessarily have to send them to the lottery. Jefferson is looking like the next Jermaine Oneal, and is only 21 yrs old. Rondo gives the Pacers a defensive minded point guard and solves one of their major weaknesses (perimeter point guard defense). West is only 24 and has lots of potential as a combination guard. Ratliff gives us short burst of toughness inside off of our bench, but most importantly gives us a huge expiring contract if we choose to use it in another move, or if we want the cap flexibility in 2008. Actually, the Pacers after the 2007-08 season would have Ratliff, Baston, and Jasekiviscious coming off our books, giving TPTB lots of options. If we got supercreative, we might be able to send Ratliff somewhere in a 3 way deal for another player that we wanted to sign in a sign and trade (Darko Milecic maybe, or another 2007 free agent)

An obvious advantage to this trade is that we clear and clarify roles for Shawne Williams and Danny Granger, and we still keep Harrington and Foster in this scenario. Add an improving Jefferson to that mix, and you still have a very good front court overall, with much more flexibility.

Lastly, we get back in the draft. Likely, our pick would be near the end of the lottery, but in a deep draft that still gives us a chance to draft some help for our backcourt. I assume that if Boston won the lottery, or got in the top 3, that that might possible change their opinion on including a 2007 pick in this deal. If that would happen we'd have to tweak the deal some, or take a 2008 pick instead most likely.

I thought it was something at least worth further discussion from all the smart posters on this board.

As always, just my opinion.

Tbird

AesopRockOn

12-25-2006, 11:10 PM

Hmm, trading our franchise player for nothing.....i don't think so.

Roy Munson

12-28-2006, 04:36 PM

That's a lot for Boston to give. I don't think Boston would go along with that, but it never hurts to ask.

IMO, that trade would be clearly in Indiana's favor, although I think Theo Ratliff's a big stiff with a questionable attitude and work ethic.

Young

12-30-2006, 01:56 AM

I can't imagne Boston doing that.

Jermaine has been injury prone in the past. Maybe if he stays healthy for the season it wouldn't be such a negative but we will have to wait and see. Besides that thought Jermaine is overpaid. I remember him signing a contract around the same time as Tim Duncan and Jermaine actually is paid a little more than Duncan. Jermaine is not worth that kind of dollars especially if you feel he is injury prone. Jermaine puts up nice numbers but he just isn't a franchise player like he is paid. Aside from that Lorbek and Harrison suck.

For Boston they give up Al Jefferson, who has improved a lot from last season and will only get better. Al could be on his way to being as good as Jermaine by next season. West is a nice all around guard who is going to continue to get better. It seems he has struggled thus far this season but he was good last year and he will pick it up. Rajon Rondo is probably less likely to get traded than Paul Pierce. Rondo is probably their future at the point.

Now, because the Celtics expressed ALOT of interest in Allen Iverson that tells me they would be interested in adding someone like Jermaine. A highly paid all star.

I think that the best deal they would offer us for Jermaine is something like Telfair, Perkins, Rattlif for Jermaine. Even then we still would probably be lucky to get two young talents like Telfair and Perkins for Jermaine. We would have to send out more players though.

No matter what though I don't think that Jermaine's trade value would be very high. You saw what the 76ers got for Allen Iverson. We would get less than that for Jermaine IMO.

Mourning

12-30-2006, 02:03 PM

I think that the best deal they would offer us for Jermaine is something like Telfair, Perkins, Rattlif for Jermaine. Even then we still would probably be lucky to get two young talents like Telfair and Perkins for Jermaine. We would have to send out more players though.

IF that's all Boston would be willing to trade us then let them continue rotting in the Atlantic. That's a bad offer even if JO would get injured again and misses like 15-20 games.

wintermute

01-01-2007, 01:06 AM

i'm not as high on al jefferson as some of you seem to be. i don't really think he is a franchise level player, which jermaine is.

delonte west i think will end up a fine player, but he doesn't strike me as having a high ceiling either. rondo... well, he's a good defender. starting pg? still an open question.

i think boston (i.e. danny ainge) values their young players a lot more than the rest of the nba does, so a possibility of a deal is unlikely.

Mourning

01-01-2007, 05:59 PM

:amen:

thunderbird1245

01-01-2007, 06:07 PM

Lots of various opinions about this one, which is good.

Its clear to me that the pacers either have to add an extremely good back court player to pair with JO, or trade JO and get younger and cheaper and rebuild. Surrounding him with the current caliber of players isnt going to give us much more than mediocrity. Winning a championship is what I am aiming for, nothing more or less.

Im not sure if the trade I proposed is good for us or not. It clearly has potential for all sorts of different outcomes for both teams.

Eindar

01-07-2007, 09:04 AM

I like the deal from a value perspective, as we enhance our backcourt, fill a hole at PF, and get young guys with upside. My main concern would be, what do we do with all these players? There would certainly be more moves needed, as Tinsley and Sarunas would immediately be displaced.

Also, what does our new starting lineup look like? I see 2 possibilities, and both have issues:

West
Jackson
Granger
Harrington
Foster

That's not a bad lineup, but it's going to be a little weak in the rebounding department. I think the main advantage of that lineup is that we could really run teams out of the gym, as everyone on that roster is a decent to very good ballhandler at their position.

Here's the other (dark side) possibility:

West
Jackson
Harrington
Jefferson
Foster

This is the "Rick can't stand to have a 'tweener at PF" lineup. This lineup would actually be pretty good in the halfcourt, with the offense going through Al, and would be a solid rebounding unit, but would be slow as molasses, and Al would get torched by teams with a decent SF.

In summary, I agree with you that Boston and Indiana are likely partners this season or off-season, but I'm unsure if we could get adequate value, and I"m not sure how the new pieces would fit.